Where is the love?
 

I happen to really like Philadelphia (I live just outside Manhattan and have visited many times) yet it seems Philadelphia does not have the best reputation which I think is unfortunate because to me it is a great city with a lot of character. I posted a trip report on a San Francisco trip and said I liked New York and Philadelphia better than San Francisco and one of the responses included the following: "Philadelphia is to SF what Baghdad is to London!" which I just don't understand. :-\ Anyone care to defend Philly?

I really liked Philadelphia too.
That quote makes no sense..someone trying to be clever.
But I lived in SF years ago and actually like it a tiny bit better than NYC where I also lived for many years.
:)
I think I might like Paris and London more than...hmmm..must think about this :)

I really like Philly too. They have a great museum, important historic sights and really good food(including the cheesesteak). I'll actually be there for 3 days in July for Business and even though I live in NY, I'm planning on making a mini vaca and staying there. So if anyone knows about the Loews Hotel- feedback would be appreciated.

We stayed at the Penns View Inn on the River..near Market St. Almost across the street from Fork which was my favorite restaurant at that time :)
Funny, we were talking about Philadelphia today, our friend is a brain surgeon there :) It was so beautiful last time we were there, azaleas all in bloom.

Thanks Scarlett, I'm going to google that Inn.

http://www.pennsviewhotel.com/

Parking is right next door.
Christ Church is a block or 2 down the street, the Liberty Bell is a few blocks past that..great location.

I love Center City and what it offers. I think where Philly can fall behind other cities is the areas that surround center city can deteriorate fast.

As someone who lived in San Francisco for a decade, I feel I can safely say that people living in that city have a real attitude about how great it is. And it IS beautiful and nice and a lot of other things. But many of its citizens have an inferiority complex, and they are constantly putting down LA and other cities, and trying to make the claim that they have better restaurants than NYC, etc. etc. etc. Personally, I think you can love your city and not have to put down other places. Maybe this is what made that person reply to you like that.

I've lived in Phila. and currently live in the suburbs. Phila. is a very livable city. While doesn't have all the amenities of NYC and it lacks some of the charm of Boston, it beats both in cost of living and traffic congestion.

Some of my favorite things to do aren't even on the typical tourist itineraries. Rollerblading or biking along the Schuylkill River drives is great. It's a good path and fun to be around so many people enjoying themselves. When we lived in center city, I used to love exploring all the little side streets and courtyards.

One thing that's hard to love (but we do) is our sports teams. But they are still better than Baghdads!!

Philadelphia seems to get slammed a lot. W.C. Fields may have started it.
Philly is a wonderful city with so much to offer. I doubt the person who made that statement has ever visited the City of Brotherly Love!

My hubby and I loved Philadelphia and we've been both in the middle of winter and the middle of summer. Great place - loved the history and thought it was very clean. We would definitely go back.

It's been years since I've been to Philadelphia so I am really excited about plans to go this October--I love Philly! Yesterday, though, I was disappointed to read that The Heart at the Franklin Institute has been replaced with a new and improved replica--for old times sake I was really hoping to walk through the old heart one more time, oh well. In high school I got to march in the Gimbles Parade! The Italian Market is fantastic--my NYC born and raised Italian step-father, who currently lives in Maryland, drives there once a month to stock-up.

Every place we visit is different and of course we like some places more than others but in liking one place more we don't put other places down. To each his own.

In my head I hear the old (?) Action News theme music playing--oh, dear! :-)

Philadelphia has beauty and charm and livability along with its history; it's always a pleasure for me to walk in the city in many different areas, seeing the varied architecture and stopping to get good food at anything from a sidewalk cart to some of the best restaurants in the country, or resting in one of the many parks or "green areas" or along the rivers.

The past 15 years or so have seen wonderful improvements, including the areas "around center city." Historically these areas were where those who could not afford the so-called streetcar neighborhoods lived, but now there's regeneration in many neighborhoods that were once considered questionable at best.

Any city has problems of its own kind; to me, there's no point in comparing cities as each is unique due to history and circumstances.

I've spent 41 years in Philadelphia and I'm not bored with it yet! (If you click on my user name there are a few Philadelphia posts that pop up; I'm always happy to let anyone know why it's a great place to visit.)

I don't know if Philly is a better than any other city, but it is a reasonable place to live.

In the past 20 years, there has been a resurgence of building, culture, arts, sports, entertainment, restaurants, tourism, etc.

We live in the suburbs, and it (usually) takes us just 35 min to get into the center, and parking is reasonable. We were there last night for dinner and to see a play, one of 5 series that we have, so we go in frequently.

In the past few years ther has been an explosive increase in condo building in center city, with people moving back in, buying ever larger and more expensive condos. Now other areas are modernizing. Philly has embarked on a cycle of progress, a rising tide which appears to be raising most, but not all, boats. ((*))

Just a bit of a PS: If you really want to see the love, go to http://community.webshots.com/user/missalg and click on the album "One Day in Philadelphia". There's the love, right in JFK Plaza!

I've been to Philadelphia a couple times - day trips while visiting friends and family in PA and NJ. While I have only scratched the surface on those trips, it seems like a really cool place. I would definitely be interested in seeing more of it.

I loved the neighborhood between Independence Park and South Street (I think - the street with all the eclectic shops, pubs, and so on that is easily walkable from Independence Park). The architecture of those homes is really wonderful and the streets are very inviting, very comfortable for walking.

A lot of things in Philadelphia seem to be on a pedestrian scale, which I really like.

Maybe that poster meant safety issues? My son travels in US a lot, and he said once, SF is the safest city he's been to. Not sure if he went to Philadelphia or not.

Dear laartista,

Good afternoon! Ive stayed at the Philadelphia Loews many times and it never disappoints! I like to request a room on the higher floors to get a great view-the city lights are beautiful! Have a great time!

Sincerely,

Carrie in PA

Thanks carrie for the review and to scarlett for the link.

I visit Philly alot because I have parents who live there so I think my opinon is pretty much qualified. I absolutley love Philadelphia. I think it is truly one of the most urban cities in the U.S.It also has the whole pakage. If you like grit, Philly's got it. If you like quiet, suburban like areas, Philly's got that too. Unlike cities like Boston, SF, NY, etc, it hasn't found its niche. But most importantly, it still has room to improve whereas the other cities are already "in". I'm looking forward to it really coming into its own because when it does it'll be amazing.

I'll join the "I love Philadelphia" bandwagon, too. We're headed there in August for a couple of days as part of a quick East coast visit - though it has been many years since I've been.

Love the historical aspects especially. I just like the "feel," I guess, and I think it does have character.

I also love SF, but for different reasons.

Both great cities, different from each other.

Hi travel3773 - I have to apologize as I am the one who made that comment. As I said in my original post - it was really, really meant tongue in cheek - I am new to this forum and I have been to Philadelphia and it is a beautiful city and I have nothing against it. So, I apologize to all of the people on the forum if I offended anyone. I will cease to attempt any humor on the forum as I am obviously not very funny and this is a place on for serious commentary. Again, I am so very sorry, I truly meant to offend nobody and am so sorry I did so.

Philadelphia is one of my favorite U.S. cities. Admittedly I haven't spent a lot of time there, but I was there for a couple of days last year and I'm planning to go back again next year. I also didn't venture into the seedy areas (which I'm sure it has plenty of) but downtown was great. It has interesting historical areas, great museums, nice parks, good food, and I found the people there to be very friendly and laid back. Philadelphia also has a great location. If you want a break from the city, you can drive one hour east and be at the seashore, or a couple of hours west and be in the mountains. Philadelphia rocks!

I grew up in Philadelphia, and absolutely loved its history, architecture, and museums.

One thing that is probably a turn-off for tourists to the city is the taxicabs. The dirty and run-down taxicabs is probably the most complained about problem by tourists and newly transplanted residents of this city.

Philadelphia allows cabs that are up to eight years old. No other major U.S. city allows such an old fleet. So when cabs are too old to run in Washington, Boston, Chicago and NYC, they are bought by Philly taxicab companies for use.

The result is less clean and probably less safe taxis in the streets.

I happen to love Philadelphia. It's home to me, I grew up JUST outside of the city -literally, my south jersey town is across from the airport- I've worked over there and I went to summer school at Temple (though not in the best area of Philly). I've just recently moved to the Boston area, and while Boston is very charming, it's just not home to me. There's something about Philadelphia that I just love. Maybe it's those Eagles, hehe.

I LOVE Philly and am sad I will not be going back this year. Hopefully next year!

It is such a great town! I can't believe someone would compare it to a bombed out city!

Well, in all fairness, there are some areas that do look bombed out, but they aren't on the tourist route!

I love to hike and mountain bike and Phila has one of the best urban parks in the country. Fairmount Park is very extensive and through Valley Green, you can hike for miles without crossing a road. The mountain bike trails are excellent - as challenging as any other you'd find "out east".

This often gets overlooked, and it's off the tourist's routes, too, but it's a great resource, especially in the urbanized east.